Since the late 1990s, Atlanta producer Jonathan “Lil Jon” Smith has gone from pioneering “crunk” music, an energetic style of hip-hop fueled by 808 drum patterns and loud chants, to becoming an in-demand club deejay and festival headliner.
It turns out Lil Jon’s son, producer, engineer and recording artist Nathan “Slade” Smith, has been quietly studying and preparing to become a crowd-pleasing performer like his father.
Slade, who turns 26 years old this month, appears on the second season of “Family Legacy,” a music docuseries that profiles high-profile musical performers through the perspectives of their children. The second season began streaming on Paramount+ on March 25.
In his episode, Slade shares details about his close relationship with his father and his own musical training. Slade told UATL his episode of “Family Legacy” is his formal introduction to Lil Jon’s fans and a homage to his dad.
“I get to show respect to my dad, how he helped me get to where I am and see some cool things that I’ve never seen before. I get to talk about myself, the things that I do and how I got myself there,” Slade said.
“Family Legacy” viewers get a tour of Slade’s home recording studio and see his reactions after watching his father’s music videos and TV guest appearances. The show also gives the audience a chance to hear Slade’s musical single, “Feels.”
After graduating from NYU Tisch School of the Arts' Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music in 2020, Slade began regularly coproducing songs like Saweetie’s bass-heavy “Get it Girl,” with Lil Jon. The song, released in 2021, was featured in an episode of Issa Rae’s HBO comedy series “Insecure” and a Beats headphones commercial.
Credit: Paramount+
Credit: Paramount+
The father-son duo also collaborated on Ying Yang Twins’ 2020 single “Twerkin in the Mirror,” Ice Cube’s “Talkin Bout These Rappers” from his 2024 album “Man Down,” and Lil Jon’s ambient 2024 album “Total Meditation” with musician Kabir Sehgal.
Slade said producing music with his dad can be educational but demanding.
“After I got out of school, he told me I was engineering him now. He doesn’t hold back or slow down for me. He screams for the next take, tells me how to mix records and pick certain sounds,” Slade said.
“It made me work faster and be a better music maker. It’s fun, but it can be hard sometimes.”
Lil Jon said Slade takes initiative anytime they work together. “He’s fast, and I don’t have to tell him things. As artists, we don’t like to walk the engineer through every single step, settings or levels to get right,” Jon said.
“He has a thirst for musical knowledge and is developing more every day.”
Credit: Kymani Culmer
Credit: Kymani Culmer
Born in Decatur, Slade got his first song credit as a toddler from singing the hook on Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz’s 2000 club banger, “Bia Bia.” He moved to California as a preteen after booking small acting gigs and commercials.
Growing up he remembers driving around Atlanta spending quality time with Lil Jon testing records from his father’s car speaker system. He became interested in deejaying in 2008, after seeing his dad hype a crowd from the deejay booth at an after-party for the TransWorld Skateboarding Awards.
Slade said being in a studio and watching Lil Jon create 2013’s “Turn Down For What” made him feel as if he had a part in his father’s success. “He heard the beat, changed a few details in the track and recorded himself at the house. It was everywhere, and I felt like we’d made it,” he said.
Credit: Jonathan Phillips
Credit: Jonathan Phillips
Before he was a teenager, Slade was deejaying weddings and school parties. He remembers producing his first track, a song inspired by house music, after his dad purchased recording software for him.
“It was just some loops I put together. I was writing little songs, but my voice was high-pitched. It was horrible, but I had to start somewhere,” Slade said.
Slade graduated from Scratch DJ Academy when he was 13. A year later he served a yearlong stint as touring deejay for then-Disney actress Zendaya. Being on the road with the future Emmy-and-Golden Globe winner and star of HBO’s “Euphoria” taught him showmanship.
“People wanted me to get hyped like my dad, but I’m a shy kid,” he said of his evolution through working with Zendaya. “It showed me how to perform, develop a character onstage and control the crowd.”
Following the tour, Slade secured a deejay residency to play music every Saturday at Club DV8 in Los Angeles. He held it for two years before enrolling at New York University, where he developed his interest in audio engineering.
He said he wanted to stay current on studio technology, to ensure he had top-quality sound on his records.
“I was producing, setting up my own equipment and doing the foundational work already. I wanted to take my career further and just get better at my craft,” Slade said.
Slade hopes being a student of music will ensure his longevity in the music business.
“I got a lot of music stacked and ready to come out. I’m just ready to keep building and show my sound. I’m ready to be on some hype stuff,” Slade said.
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